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Be safe and enjoy our beaches

By DAWN GUNTER / Florida Department of Health in Taylor County

Scallop season is now upon us and along with it summer vacation and the Fourth of July weekend. We at the Florida Department of Health in Taylor County want everyone to have a great time…and be safe doing it.

From August of 2002 to 2011, we conducted weekly coastal beach water monitoring at four sites (Dekle Beach, Keaton Beach, Cedar Island, and Hagen’s Cove) as a part of the Florida Healthy Beaches Water Quality Program. Due to Taylor County’s low population and low development, its “beaches” receive low usage in comparison to other parts of the state. The “developed” areas are now on central sewer, reducing the concern that septic systems around the monitored sites contaminate the water. As a result, Florida Department of Health removed Taylor County’s sample areas from the Healthy Beaches program as of September 2011.

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